Once that you have an OID issued by HL7 UK, all the OID s “under” it, are yours to allocate as you see fit. You just need to keep a record internally.
For example:
- If you have been allocated 2.16.840.1.113883.2.1.3.500
- You can make:
- 2.16.840.1.113883.2.1.3.500.1,
- 2.16.840.1.113883.2.1.3.500.2
- 2.16.840.1.113883.2.1.3.500.3 etc.
- As well as:
- 2.16.840.1.113883.2.1.3.500.1.1
- 2.16.840.1.113883.2.1.3.500.1.1.1 etc.
In other words you could create:
- [your oid].1
- [your oid].2
- [your oid].3 etc
And also levels:
- [your oid].1.1
- [your oid].1.1.1 etc
…and so on: as many levels and numbers as you like.
It’s probably best not to use the highest level numbers immediately but better to categorize them first:
- [your oid].1 some category
- [your oid].2 some other category
- [your oid].3 etc
Fort example, you might want to create a top level one for “systems”
- [your oid].1 Systems
Then have:
- [your oid].1.1 LIMS
- [your oid].1.2 PAS
- [your oid].1.2 something else
…and so on
Then later you may want to allocate OIDs for eg Departments:
- [your oid].2 Departments
- [your oid].2.1 General Surgery
- [your oid].2.2 A&E etc
This makes sure the two types (systems and departments) won’t be mixed up together.
Just make sure you keep a master catalogue – eg a spreadsheet or similar – somewhere central, ideally an intranet.